We Are Excited About Our New Improved Healthy Menu. We Are Offering New And Special Fresh Fruits And Vegetables Every Week.

Zucchini

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Zucchini Plant
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Freshly Picked


In a culinary context, zucchini is treated as a vegetable, which means it is usually cooked and presented as a savory dish or accompaniment. Botanically, however, the zucchini is an immature fruit, being the swollen egg of the female zucchini flower. Zucchini is a popularly cultivated summer squash which often grows to nearly a meter in length, but which are usually harvested at half that size or less. Zucchini recipies http://southernfood.about.com/od/zucchinirecipes/Zucchini_Recipes.htm


Yellow Squash

external image yellow_squash.jpg

In North America, squash is loosely grouped into summer or winter, depending on whether they are harvested as immature fruit (summer squash) or mature fruit (autumn squash or winter squash). Gourds are from the same family as squashes. Well known types of squash include the pumpkin and zucchini.


Mushrooms


external image Mushrooms.jpg

http://www.allaboutmushrooms.com/

Mushrooms are not a plant, they are a fungus.
They are helpful in fighting certain types of cancer.
Some mushrooms that are picked in the wild are poisonous.
Edible mushrooms like the button (shown above) are grown on mushroom farms, and sold to grocers.

Green onions



external image inside_products_green_onion.jpg



One of the over twelve hundred types of allium, or onions, in the world, green onions are a simple and versatile way of adding a mild onion flavor to many dishes. Sometimes referred to as scallions or spring onions, the green onion is simply an onion that is harvested before maturity is reached.

One of the oldest and most used ingredient in Chinese cooking


Bell Pepper


bell pepper

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Fun Facts:* Bell peppers are actually a fruit, but cooks treat them as a vegetable.* In the Ohio valley people (around here), sometimes refer to bell peppers as mangos. However, they are definitely not the same thing.*The color can be green, yellow, red, orange, white, rainbow and purple depending on when they are picked.*Red bell peppers have more vitamins and nutrients than green.

Our fruit for the week is pears. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pear



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Fun Facts:

Pears will ripen faster if placed in the same bowl as bananas.

The wood from pear trees is a preferred wood for making high quality woodwind instruments.

Pears and apples are similar in several ways, including their appearance, pollination and propagation.

An interesting difference is that when they are carefully placed in water, apples will float and pears will sink.








Week One Our Special Fruit Was Watermelon.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon

Things To Think About:



Square_Melon.jpg
How Did They Get This Watermelon Square?

In Japan some farmers grow watermelons in clear cubes to make packing and shipping easier. Unfortunately they cost twice as much to buy.



Fun Fact__ :


Fans of the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL started a tradition of hollowing out a watermelon and wearing it as a football helmet (the color of the Roughriders is green).



Week Two's Special Fruit Is: Cantaloupe





Cantaloupe.jpg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cantaloupe


Things To Think About:


If cantaloupe is in the same family as cucumbers and squash, is it a fruit or vegetable?

        • Cantaloupe is a fruit and technically so are cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and peppers. Check out this link to learn more...*
fruit or vegetable


Fun Fact:
Cantaloupes were first introduced to North America by Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1494.




In the past couple weeks of school we have served a variety of fresh vegetables including Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cucumbers, Celery, and Tomatoes.


Be the first student to tell a cook which vegetable pickles come from and win a prize!

how to make pickles


This week's fruit sounds like something your mom might say if she wants you to do something for her. Can you guess what fruit it is?
Did you guess Honey Dew?


Honeydew.jpg
Honeydew.jpg





http://www.produceoasis.com/Items_folder/Fruits/Honeydew.html




Be the first to tell us how watermelon grows. On a tree, underground, on a vine, or on a bush?
Things to think about...

Which is fresher, fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables? Why?Actually frozen is fresher because it is frozen quickly from the field, fresh fruits and vegetables spend time in transport and on the shelf, losing some of their freshness. Learn more about the inventor the frozen food process: Clarence Birdseye
This week our fruit is kiwifruit.
external image 220px-Kiwi_%28Actinidia_chinensis%29_1_Luc_Viatour_edit.jpgkiwifruit
Things to think about:


The Kiwi is a small, brown, flightless bird native to New Zealand. The kiwifruit is originally from China. Be careful which term you use, you wouldn't want a bowl full of kiwi (birds).



One of the vegetables we have offered is sugar snap peas.
Snap pea pods on cutting board.JPG
Snap pea pods on cutting board.JPG
snap peasTheir name comes from the french word "mangetout" which means "eat all".